NFL Power Rankings for Week 11: Seahawks in Super Bowl mix, biggest risers and fallers

NFL Power Rankings entering Week 11

1. NFL Power Rankings entering Week 11
2. Seahawks staking claim as a Super Bowl contender, at minimum
3. Biggest Risers and Fallers from the latest NFL Power Rankings

What a wonky NFL Week 10, huh? Let me assure you, anyone that comes up and says that they had the Miami Dolphins upsetting the Buffalo Bills by three possessions, the New York Jets without Sauce Gardner and Quinnen Williams beating the Browns, the Houston Texans orchestrating a 19-point comeback win against the Jacksonville Jaguars, or even the New Orleans Saints winning on teh road at Carolina, I wouldn't believe you. This was a massively strange week, and one that makes figuring out NFL Power Rankings a quite difficult task.

But one thing that we did ultimately see, particularly in the late window, was the dominance of some of the best teams in the league. Earlier in the season, the Seattle Seahawks barely slipped by the rival Arizona Cardinals in a three-point win. As they've progressed, though, we saw just how much as they curb-stomped the Cards. The Detroit Lions and Los Angeles Rams did the same to the Commanders and 49ers, respectively, as well.

We're starting to get a clearer idea of the NFL's best contenders, and while some of the names might surprise you in that list, leaving Week 10 is a point when you just have to accept (at least most things) are real. So let's dive into the NFL Power Rankings and see exactly what that means.

NFL Power Rankings entering Week 11

Seahawks staking claim as a Super Bowl contender, at minimum

It wasn't ever close when the Seahawks took on the rival Cardinals. Now, I get it — it's Arizona. We're not exactly talking about a world-beater here. However, what we saw from Seattle in that game was a lot of what we've been seeing over the past month or so. This team in every facet of the game is hitting its stride and truly has the potential to get even better. And by get even better, I specifically mean that, in a season where I don't believe there's a great team, their Super Bowl chances are as realistic as any team at the top of the NFC standings right now.

Sam Darnold has been so in control of this offense, a continuation of what we saw last year with Minnesota, but perhaps with even more confidence and consistency than with the Vikings. He's quite literally becoming the prospect he was drafted to be as a top-five pick, but now has the situation around him that allows him to blossom into a bonafide star — and having Jaxon Smith-Njigba doesn't hurt either.

In the win over Arizona, though, Darnold barely had to break a sweat. The defense was suffocating against the rival Cardinals, including two defensive touchdowns on the day that put the game out of reach in the first quarter.

On the whole, that's just the story for these Seahawks. Seattle and the Detroit Lions are the only two teams in the NFL through 10 weeks that rank inside the top 10 for both Offensive and Defensive Success Rate. They are one of the most balanced teams in the league, but coming with legitimate star power as well, and not to mention an innovative coaching staff with the blend of OC Klint Kubiak and head coach Mike Macdonald.

They undoubtedly snuck up on me a bit, but the Seahawks have become must-see TV every Sunday (or Monday, but you get the point). Obviously, they're not going to boat-race every opponent on the schedule, but there's also not another team in the league that I'd put them up against at this point and not think that Seattle has a chance to win, if not that they should be the decisive favorite.

Biggest Risers and Fallers from the latest NFL Power Rankings

Riser: New England Patriots

You have to love everything about the Patriots' vibe right now. New England continues to keep things rolling, this time going on the road and winning against the Bucs, a game that many people were circling as the comeuppance for Mike Vrabel's team. But from the first-year head coach in Foxborough to Drake Maye legitimately making himself into an MVP candidate this season, the Pats aren't going anywhere.

They're becoming near undeniable, especially as it seems like they unlock new pieces of their team with each passing week. In beating Tampa, we finally saw the breakout performance from rookie TreVeyon Henderson, not to mention the first big play from everyone's favorite draft sleeper, Kyle Williams. And the defense continues to figure it out.

The Patriots aren't perfect, and in my heart of hearts, the feeling is that they probably aren't a Super Bowl contender. However, the turnaround from what they were just last year has been wildly impressive, and it's still very much in the cards that, whether it ends in a Lombardi Trophy or not, that the Pats could end up as the AFC's No. 1 seed in the playoffs.

Faller: Cleveland Browns

Dillon Gabriel, I'm all set. It was absolutely the right move for the Browns to move off of veteran Joe Flacco — even if one could argue that they maybe shouldn't have traded him, much less within the AFC North. Gabriel, a third-round rookie, needed to get his opportunity to show what he has and how Cleveland would perform around the young signal-caller. The answer has been awfully, including getting beat by the actively tanking Jets on Sunday.

This offense just looks so frustratingly herky-jerky and out of sync often throughout the course of a game. And the common thread with that is undeniably Gabriel. What's worse with that, one of Gabriel's biggest strengths coming into the NFL was his vast college experience. You'd hope that he'd be in a position to at least manage the game properly, but that hasn't been the case.

I'm not just trying to push a "play Shedeur Sanders" agenda here, to be clear. But he is the only other option that the Browns have. At this point, it's abundantly clear that Gabriel isn't a franchise option at the position, so they at least owe it to themselves and the fans to get a quality look at every QB on the roster to help inform their draft plans this offseason, especially with two first-round picks.

Faller: Jacksonville Jaguars

We need to have a serious conversation about whether Trevor Lawrence is the viable future of the Jaguars. Look at what was done this offseason to help supplement the former No. 1 overall pick. Travis Hunter was brought in. The offensive personnel was cleaned up. Liam Coen, who was championed as an offensive mastermind, took over as head coach. And the list goes on. None of that was to have Lawrence and the Jags allow Davis Mills to come back and beat them.

This isn't to say that I ever thought Jacksonville was remotely close to being a Super Bowl contender, or anything of the sort. At the same time, they should be a firm playoff team, and instead are sitting right on the bubble for the final wild card spot in the AFC. And a big part of that has to do with Lawrence's underperformance. Perhaps the most stunning stat of the season: Only Cam Ward has a lower passer rating than the Jags quarterback this season.

Maybe this is a knee-jerk reaction because the end of the loss to the Texans was so ugly for the Jaguars. But it feels like, with Lawrence, this team finds itself in those types of unfortunate situations far more often than they should.

Riser: Baltimore Ravens

Despite the horrendous start for the Ravens this season, we all knew this was coming at some point, right? I'm not here to tell you that Baltimore beating the Dolphins and J.J. McCarthy-led Vikings means that this team is going to win the Super Bowl or anything. However, the fact that this team started 1-5 and is now moving to 4-5, sitting just one game back of the Steelers, was always in the card once Lamar Jackson returned.

Of course, with the time Lamar missed and the poor showing early in the year, the Ravens' margin for error is quite slim at this point, but it's also realistic to think they can continue their climb back to the top in a division that's clearly not particularly special this season. Most important for this team outside of their star quarterback being on the field, though, is that the defense has gotten healthier and now looks like much less of a problem than it was to start the year.

When Baltimore's clicking, it looks as easy as it does for any team in the league. The question is how long and sustainably the Ravens can keep it clicking, which applies tenfold if and when this team makes its way back to the postseason.

Staying Put: Denver Broncos

After moving to 8-2 on the season, most people would probably expect the Broncos to move up from the 12th spot in the power rankings — or at least that's what most people who didn't watch the Thursday Night Football win over the Raiders would have to say about the matter.

The truth of the matter is that this Denver team is frustratingly similar to last season, which would largely indicate that the team has overachieved to this point. Bo Nix is scoring touchdowns, but his inconsistency and underperformance have been noticeable in most games. Probably the best indicator of that is that the Broncos rank 28th in Offensive Success Rate this season, behind teams like the Saints, Texans and even the Jets.

Make no mistake, the defense is still elite. The Broncos are first in Defensive Success Rate this season, so that's not gone anywhere. However, until I see something more from the offense, particularly in the way of being able to put together drives consistently, they're going to plateau for me in how they stack up against the rest of the top of the league.